1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to an apparatus and a method for an optical drive, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method of ejecting an optical disc for an optical drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the rapid and booming development in multi-media industry in recent years, the small-sized compact disc which has a large capacity and can store data for long has gained a wide popularity and the optical drive with disc access function plays an important role in the market of multi-media products.
Most conventional optical drives at least include a tray and a tray motor. The tray is for carrying the disc, while the tray motor is for driving the tray to be moved into or out the optical drive for the disc to be loaded into or unloaded from the disc driver.
Normally, when the user presses a button on the panel for loading or unloaded a disc, the controlling unit of the optical drive will provide a pre-set constant voltage to the tray motor to drive out the tray from the optical drive so that the user can load/unload the disc. The pre-set constant voltage is set so as to achieve stability and precision when the tray is driven out from the optical drive. That is to say, the manufacturer expects that with the pre-set constant voltage, the tray motor can drive out the tray from optical drive smoothly and precisely.
However, the conventional method of using a pre-set constant voltage to move out the tray from the optical drive cannot assure the stability and precision when the tray is being removed. As a result, malfunctions always occur when the optical drive is in use. For example, if the value of the pre-set constant voltage is larger than what is actually needed, in other words, the margin of combination of mechanic elements of the optical drive is large, the tray motor will drive out the tray from the optical drive faster, the occurrences of mechanic collision between the tray and the optical drive are more likely to occur. Consequently, the lifespan of the optical drive will be largely shortened. Worse than that, if the tray is driven out from the optical drive at too fast a speed that cannot be reduced in time, the disc might even be separated from the tray especially when a vertical-type optical drive is used. If this should happen, the damage might be irreversible. Besides, when the pre-set constant voltage is smaller than what is actually needed, the tray motor will be unable to drive the tray to a pre-set position, causing a big inconvenience to the user.
It can be seen from the above disclosure that when ejecting a disc from an optical drive, the tray cannot be smoothly and precisely driven out from the optical drive by way of providing a pre-set constant voltage to the tray motor for driving the tray. Therefore, how to smoothly and precisely control the tray from the optical drive has become an object to be achieved to relevant professionals.